Tiger on the loose

Having served the customary apprenticeship with Leicester, Tom Croft has the potential to be one of the world's best players

Tom Croft says playing well for Leicester will help him to fulfil his England potential (Andy Watts)
We are sitting in a corner of a nondescript room near where the Leicester
Tigers train at Oadby. It is grey outside and what light there is has been
eclipsed by Tom Croft’s tallness. He has come to talk about the usual
things: the Tigers, England, his place in these worlds, and yet it is when
he speaks about what else he likes to do that he offers a sense of who he
is.

First thing is when he departs the training ground he likes to leave the game
behind. No reviewing matches on Sky Plus, no poring over the rugby pages
and, if his housemate, Ben Youngs, behaves, no endless talking about the
game. At home he will give the nod to Scampi, his Jack Russell, drag his 6ft
5in carcass off the sofa, pull a jacket from a coat rack, pick up the
Frisbee and be gone.